Sony counters Kindle with new models, better format support

Sony provides updates to its e-reading hardware, software, and store in an …

Today, Sony officially launched the latest salvos in the increasingly intense e-book wars. Depending on your perspective, this was either a big deal, or a collection of incremental changes: new models, new supported formats, and cheaper e-books, but little that significantly differentiates these products from their predecessors. Still, the effort reveals that, despite the company's extensive cost-cutting measures, it's not giving up on the e-book market.

On the hardware front, Sony will be offering two new reader models by the end of August. The larger model, the Reader Touch Edition, aka the PRS-600, will retail for $299. This 6.9 x 4.8 inch device will keep the touchscreen of the PRS-700, but ditch its backlighting. The software will apparently be updated, allowing freehand note taking with the included stylus. It handles both Memory Stick and SD cards for expansion and file transfer.

The Reader Pocket edition (PRS-300) should fit in a relatively expansive pocket, as it's 6.2 x 4.2 inches. Part of the reason that it hasn't shrunk all that much from its larger sibling is the lack of a touchscreen, which forces Sony to allocate space to basic controls. Despite the smaller size, it will display the same number of pixels as the Touch Edition.

There's more news on the software front, where Sony is finally producing a Mac client of its library management software. In addition to Sony's DRMed e-book format, the software will handle the EPUB files used by Google's public domain books, as well as PDF, Word documents, and RTF text files. That's more formats than the Kindle, and Sony claims that its PDF capabilities include reflowing documents on the fly; PDFs on the Kindle are given a one-size-fits-all approach. Wireless access to the e-book store is still in real-soon-now territory, but Sony is matching Amazon on price for new releases and best sellers, which will all appear at $9.99.

All of this appears to be a nice incremental update, and Sony has provided a few differentiating features that will clearly appeal to audiences with specific needs. The push to add features and support additional formats—both Sony and Amazon have done these sorts of product releases within a year of their last one—shows that the e-book reader market is extremely competitive, even before the entry of Plastic Logic's device, planned for early next year. Even the most significant differentiator, wireless service, should vanish at some point in the future.

The downside of this is that the ability of any manufacturer to produce a truly novel feature, one that clearly sets apart one product from the rest, seems to be limited. Based on the most recent releases, device makers are focusing on trying to add anything that might provide a leg up on the competition, no matter how minor the feature. This cutthroat competition is all the more striking because it's not even clear how large the market for dedicated e-book (and e-newspaper) readers is. Barnes & Noble, for example, is betting that readers will simply access books on their other electronic gadgets.

In any case, the new releases show that Sony's not giving up on the dedicated hardware, and plans on fighting Amazon for a slice of whatever market exists. The key question, however, may be whether both companies can provide enough compelling features to ensure that an e-reader market flourishes.

Most PDF files have a page size. Reflowing will notice the text in the body of the PDF and wrap the lines appropriately for the size of the display rather than doing what Acrobat Reader does and simply zoom in or out.

My primary concern is the price of new releases and high sellers. $10 is better than a hard-back new release, but it's several dollars more expensive than a paper back. If the price drops around the time of paper back release, that's OK, but I can't imagine paying more for a digital version than the dead tree.

Actally somewhat tempted by this one, a first since I swore off Sony-branded *anything* years ago.

...as long as I can access most of the features from my gNewSense install, that is. I'd actually be quite happy if I could never load a DRM'd book on the thing; that way I'd be certain that I never put my money towards that technology.

If not...I'll stick to my XO. The screen's "sunlight mode" makes it a pretty good book reader; I might have to play with aggressive power management to make uptime between charges last longer than 5-6 hours...

There's also some features I realised that I would need before ever considering a e-Book reader:

1. Wireless syncing between the "Clould" or a host Computer -- One example I can think of is where you have a collection of PDFs and you want to have both the computer and e-Book reader in sync with each other.

2. Wireless printing -- Whilst e-Book readers are meant to eliminate printing, it would be handy to be able to print wireless your annotations for a particular book for example.

3. PDF annotation and highlighting support. Whilst the PRS-700 can annotate PDF files these annotations are held separately. Ideally, you would want annotations and text highlighting to reflected in the PDF file itself.

Edit: I accidently edited my original post instead of posting a new one and quoting.

They're still too expensive. Can we please get a universal ebook format so China can make us all some $50 book readers please? There's no "cool iPod factor" to be had with books, there just needs to be a ratified specification (something the equivalent of how the CD or DVD formats work) so we can have many manufacturers and lower the prices.

I'd be very interested in an e-book reader for the bus to work but I'm not ever going to buy into something where the content I want (newer releases) is going to be DRM'd. Not gonna doit, wouldn't be prudent at this time.

I would say I'm mildly interested in this. I don't like Amazon so the Kindle is simply not appealing. I would prefer a reader that is at its root simply hardware which I can load my own files onto. It sounds like Sony is making it easy to do that, and finally supporting the Mac with a native client.

$9.99 per book is simply too much though. I rarely pay that much for a paperback and I almost always lend my books after I read them. Higher cost and losing the ability to lend books is just not appealing. In contrast, most albums I buy on iTunes are actually cheaper than the equivalent CDs, and even when they had DRM I could still put them on mix CDs.

The format support seems to be the exact same as the current PRS-505 and PRS-700. Sony (LRF), ePub, MS Word (via conversion in the Sony software), RTF, and PDF (including reflow ability) are all in my 505. Nothing new here except the hardware and the note taking on the 600.

Originally posted by Saad:I'm quite intrested. As a researcher I have a huge collection of PDF documents of all the papers I have accumulated. It would nice if I didn't have to print them out each time I wanted to read the paper away from the computer and it's many distractions.

It's in the "stupid expensive" category, but as a researcher, I suspect you'd be better served by something like the Kindle DX, which has a large enough screen that it can display PDFs with all of their original formatting. Paging back and forth between text and accompanying figures can be bad enough in PDF versions of a paper, but when you shrink to a small screen size e-reader, the problem can get much worse. As far as I know, Sony doesn't have a similar large screen reader, but it would be nice if they did.

The downside of this is that the ability of any manufacturer to produce a truly novel feature, one that clearly sets apart one product from the rest, seems to be limited.

I saw one thing that very clearly marked the Sony reader apart here - the touch screen. The backlighting is handy as well, something else the Kindle doesn't have. When I was checking out a friend's Kindle DX, the first thing I did was touch the screen - I was very surprised when it didn't work. It may not be that innovative (touch is everywhere lately), but it's the only reader I know of to have the feature. If this wasn't still stuck with DRM, I'd be picking one up immediately.

Originally posted by David Bradbury:They're still too expensive. Can we please get a universal ebook format so China can make us all some $50 book readers please? There's no "cool iPod factor" to be had with books, there just needs to be a ratified specification (something the equivalent of how the CD or DVD formats work) so we can have many manufacturers and lower the prices.

e-ink screens are the cost, nothing to do with ebook formats. I have an 8" Chinese made GPS that doubles as an ebook reader, I can install my own fonts and it does a pretty good job (it's nice and light, comes with a touch screen, etc). Cost me all of $90. But e-ink screens are still nicer to read, closer to a real book.

DRM doesn't bother me, Sony can't turn around and delete my books since there's no access. I would like wifi access with a little store though, it'd make life a hell of a lot easier.

My main concern is the size. I have a paperback copy of Dune sitting on my desk, standard size, and it's an 8" diameter. The PRS-300, while finally being at a price point that I'd buy one, is a 5" screen. That makes for a tiny reading area and a lot of page turning (with the usual e-ink delay involved)

You can write on the PRS-600 freehand with a stylus. That is a huge feature compared to pretty much every other eBook reader on the market. Yet you gloss it over and say that "little that significantly differentiates these products from their predecessors"...

Originally posted by Benanov:Actally somewhat tempted by this one, a first since I swore off Sony-branded *anything* years ago.

...as long as I can access most of the features from my gNewSense install, that is. I'd actually be quite happy if I could never load a DRM'd book on the thing; that way I'd be certain that I never put my money towards that technology.

If not...I'll stick to my XO. The screen's "sunlight mode" makes it a pretty good book reader; I might have to play with aggressive power management to make uptime between charges last longer than 5-6 hours...

If it's anything like the 505, the reader will simply present as a USB mass storage device. So if you've got a way to copy files to a USB drive, you can load them on the reader. Any format it recognizes it will display; there's no syncing trickery involved.

Originally posted by F16PilotJumper:You can write on the PRS-700 freehand with a stylus. That is a huge feature compared to pretty much every other eBook reader on the market. Yet you gloss it over and say that "little that significantly differentiates these products from their predecessors"...

Except that the PRS-700 is the predecessor. The new product is the PRS-600 with the same features less a backlight and at a lower pricing point.

The new 600 has me interested, but I have to hold it first. Mine fits in the pocket of my pants (cargos). Also, I want to know how long it lasts on one charge. I get something like 15 to 20 hours one charge. It's brilliant, since I don't want to have to ship a library back to the states when I'm done.

120 books and counting, and every one of them from sources other than the sony store.

Price is the next big differentiator. I am surprised Amazon doesn't have a plan that essentially gives away the reader but locks it into its content (or pre-sells you $x of content). They are not going to get a new flood of buyers until price drops further.

I am VERY disappointed by the PRS-300's overall size. I know it doesn't have a touch screen but the control needs could still be incorporated in a smaller bezel. If it had a uniform thin bezel around the screen I would consider buying one as a more pocketable companion to my PRS-505. As it is, no chance.

Most PDF files have a page size. Reflowing will notice the text in the body of the PDF and wrap the lines appropriately for the size of the display rather than doing what Acrobat Reader does and simply zoom in or out.

Not to do with ebooks, but isn't reflowing the opposite of the purpose of PDF? Shouldn't one use HTML if you want the document to reflow based on the device.

Most PDF files have a page size. Reflowing will notice the text in the body of the PDF and wrap the lines appropriately for the size of the display rather than doing what Acrobat Reader does and simply zoom in or out.

Not to do with ebooks, but isn't reflowing the opposite of the purpose of PDF? Shouldn't one use HTML if you want the document to reflow based on the device.

Yes, but that doesn't help you if you already have a PDF document that you want on your reader. I have a ton of documents in PDF. If I buy a reader I want it to be able to display that stuff.

...as long as I can access most of the features from my gNewSense install, that is. I'd actually be quite happy if I could never load a DRM'd book on the thing; that way I'd be certain that I never put my money towards that technology.

Having tried it out a previous-gen PRS-505, non-DRM'd content can be copied to the reader from any PC - it just appears as a USB flash drive when plugged in. Drop your pdf/rtf/epub/etc file in the appropriate directory & go.

Doh! - didn't see Control Group's response.

quote:

Doktor, if you get the Sony eBook reader, you can get all kinds of books with no DRM. Granted, you're not buying them and you're getting them from websites of ill repute, but it works.

Not necessarily (on the latter part), it could also be content that was legally sold by first party DRM-free (similar to the digital music stores that sell unencumbered MP3s instead of DRM'd AAC or WMA).

There's more news on the software front, where Sony is finally producing a Mac client of its library management software.

Now if only they updated their client to actually work on 64-bit Windows. Earlier versions of the library did not support it, but the specs of the current version does specify that 64-bit Vista is supported - yet in my experience it fails the same way as the previous version (it may be a UAC/permissions problem & not a 64-bit problem).

Yes, a single anecdote != data... but still. At least I still have no trouble copying DRM-free books onto it, no syncing app required for that.

That being said, with the Sony software installed - even if I can't run it directly - it does enable Adobe Digital Editions to recognize the device so you can use ADE to manage the content on the Reader.

Wireless access to the e-book store is still in real-soon-now territory...

Really? Because given the ramifications of an always connected device, as so bluntly demonstrated by Amazon, I don't think I would want my ebook reader to be wirelessly connected.

My Kindle has a physical switch for turning the wireless on and off. If I never turned it on, Amazon would never be able to delete my books. However that would permanently disconnect me from all the titles in the Kindle Store. I'd still be able to buy and read books from other ebook stores, like Baen or Fictionwise.

But look, Amazon made a stupid mistake deleting those copies of 1984, one they've promised they won't make again. Remember, the ability to delete books isn't primarily a Big Brother feature. It's a customer service feature. For 7 days after any purchase, I can return any ebook I buy, and get my money back. Of course they delete the book if I do this.

Originally posted by F16PilotJumper:You can write on the PRS-700 freehand with a stylus. That is a huge feature compared to pretty much every other eBook reader on the market. Yet you gloss it over and say that "little that significantly differentiates these products from their predecessors"...

Except that the PRS-700 is the predecessor. The new product is the PRS-600 with the same features less a backlight and at a lower pricing point.

My post should say PRS-600. No stylus support on the PRS-700.

The light (actually a "front light" more than a back light) was removed because the lighting layer over the eInk made the screen less sharp, which many customers complained about.

Originally posted by robrob:DRM doesn't bother me, Sony can't turn around and delete my books since there's no access.

But there is. They can use the root-kit they installed on your PC to cripple or delete books after the fact. They may even "update" a book, Starwars style, without consent or notification.

It's a shame. I'm with Benanov, having sworn off anything bearing the mark of the beast "Sony". I don't care if this particular item is "safe", I don't want to fund criminal activity (rootkits) or support DRM crippleware (Bluray) by paying Sony.

These new readers actually look good and are quite appealing, but I don't want to fund my own prison by buying one.

Originally posted by adminfoo:But look, Amazon made a stupid mistake deleting those copies of 1984, one they've promised they won't make again. Remember, the ability to delete books isn't primarily a Big Brother feature. It's a customer service feature.

Originally posted by adminfoo:But look, Amazon made a stupid mistake deleting those copies of 1984, one they've promised they won't make again. Remember, the ability to delete books isn't primarily a Big Brother feature. It's a customer service feature.

I have a bridge to sell you.

Way to cherrypick. Are you always this intellectually dishonest? Of course the customer service feature is the ability to get a full refund for 7 days after purchasing the book, but that doesn't make your point, does it? So you snip it out.

Originally posted by adminfoo:Way to cherrypick. Are you always this intellectually dishonest? Of course the customer service feature is the ability to get a full refund for 7 days after purchasing the book, but that doesn't make your point, does it? So you snip it out.

Sigh. It's not intellectually dishonest to snip something that is completely IRRELEVANT. It rarely happens that Big Brother mechanics are put into place with insidious intentions. Sure, it's a "Customer Service" feature now. But when Amazon (or someone else who can tell Amazon what to do with I.P.) needs to edit your book to make it more "ideologically pure," THEN it becomes a Big Brother issue. Amazon shouldn't just promise not to do this; they shouldn't have the ability in the first place.

Originally posted by Semi On:My primary concern is the price of new releases and high sellers. $10 is better than a hard-back new release, but it's several dollars more expensive than a paper back. If the price drops around the time of paper back release, that's OK, but I can't imagine paying more for a digital version than the dead tree.

Several Dollars? Where have you been shopping? Basic paperback books are up to $7.99 and even $8.99 each on average these days. A jump to be sure, but not that much of one.

Doktor, if you get the Sony eBook reader, you can get all kinds of books with no DRM. Granted, you're not buying them and you're getting them from websites of ill repute, but it works.

Not necessarily (on the latter part), it could also be content that was legally sold by first party DRM-free (similar to the digital music stores that sell unencumbered MP3s instead of DRM'd AAC or WMA).

I don't consider "obtaining" a copy of a book I already own in ebook format to be pirating. After all, I already own it. Sometimes I/we actually like paper copies... such as when backpacking/camping. That's why I have a room full of bookshelves and then some. But there are other times when it's nice to have them in a digital format... hence why I like to get them in both "formats".

Hard not to imagine this whole market being supplanted by the <$300 touchscreen tablet PCs that will likely soon replace netbooks. I know I'd buy one of those in a flash. eBook readers are just too single-purpose for the price.

They can use the root-kit they installed on your PC to cripple or delete books after the fact. They may even "update" a book, Starwars style, without consent or notification.

Yes they can. And so can iTunes, iPhoto, Mac OS X, Linux, Windows, and.... well hey... ANY software you use at all. Any.

Yeah, the rootkit was awful. And let's not forget. But let's also forgive... not blindly, but honestly.

1) Sony's Reader software does NOT auto-delete ala Amazon.2) Sony's Reader software does not rootkit.3) The Reader acts as a Mass Storage Device... You don't even need Sony's software to load a book.

quote:

It's a shame. I'm with Benanov, having sworn off anything bearing the mark of the beast "Sony". I don't care if this particular item is "safe", I don't want to fund criminal activity (rootkits) or support DRM crippleware (Bluray) by paying Sony.

4) You can load non-DRM books onto the Reader just fine5) It now supports multiple bookstores, unlike the Kindle (and past Readers)6) What criminal activity exactly? What is illegal about the reader?

and, finally

7) You have issues with Blu-ray? Guess you never watched CSSed DVDs either.

Sheesh man.

While I'm all for keeping your eyes open, holding a grudge for ... what? 4 years... when it involved a 3rd party in the first place... well, I guess I'm not sympathetic. Even less so when your views are so "out-there" and wildly inconsistent.

quote:

These new readers actually look good and are quite appealing, but I don't want to fund my own prison by buying one.

Originally posted by adminfoo:Way to cherrypick. Are you always this intellectually dishonest? Of course the customer service feature is the ability to get a full refund for 7 days after purchasing the book, but that doesn't make your point, does it? So you snip it out.

Sigh. It's not intellectually dishonest to snip something that is completely IRRELEVANT.

Except that it's quite relevant. Sure, the 1984 thing made headlines. It doesn't make headlines when I or any other Kindle user returns a book, gets our money back, and sees the book deleted - but this has happened and will happen far more often than unilateral book deletions by Amazon.

quote:

It rarely happens that Big Brother mechanics are put into place with insidious intentions. Sure, it's a "Customer Service" feature now. But when Amazon (or someone else who can tell Amazon what to do with I.P.) needs to edit your book to make it more "ideologically pure," THEN it becomes a Big Brother issue. Amazon shouldn't just promise not to do this; they shouldn't have the ability in the first place.

So you're saying that Amazon should take away every Kindle user's ability to return the ebook for a refund - simply because Amazon might use the feature in ways they have promised not to?

Originally posted by EatingPie:Yeah, the rootkit was awful. And let's not forget. But let's also forgive... not blindly, but honestly.

Has Sony publicly promised not to rootkit again? Amazon have.

quote:

1) Sony's Reader software does NOT auto-delete ala Amazon.2) Sony's Reader software does not rootkit.3) The Reader acts as a Mass Storage Device... You don't even need Sony's software to load a book.4) You can load non-DRM books onto the Reader just fine5) It now supports multiple bookstores, unlike the Kindle (and past Readers)

1. Are you sure?2. Are you sure?3. Kindle does too.4. True on Kindle as well.5. Yes, true on Kindle as well. I'm reading my Baen books just fine on Kindle, thanks.

Sorry if this sounds fanboyish. It's not meant to. Just correcting a few misperceptions.

I fail to see how remote deletion is necessary for customer service. Since there is a network connection of some sort between the Kindle and the store, the Kindle could just send a few packets to Amazon saying "Hey, this user just deleted this title from their Kindle." Once Amazon receives said packets, THEN they authorize the return.

To go to similar analogies to what was seen in the 1984 comments section, Wal-Mart, Barnes & Noble, and $BRICK_AND_MORTAR_STORE don't have people come to my house to reclaim the things I bought as part of the return process. I need to take initiative if I want my money back.

Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is that not having a store which can reach into my device and remove my content isn't something I'd put in the "con" column.

The silver model looks WAY too much like an iPod interface... Unless it's been licensed, someone may have issue with it should Apple choose to enforce that. (they have on a few cell phones, and other media devices in the past). Apple has an e-book store of their own as well, and I'm sure they'll think twice before letting a new customer in the market, especially with their new tablet coming out.

Hopefully Sony develkoped more than one OS for this device, or at least made it easy to completely change the GUI without changing the underlying base code (if they didn't license the look/feel from Apple).